Australia Emigration Boost Essential

January 26, 2011


There have been a number of calls for the Federal Government of Australia to boost their migration intake to prevent rising inflation and wage competition.

Since 2009 the Australian economy has been restricted by slowing population growth and this could continue for years ahead, putting increasing pressure on the Department of Immigration.

The economy is predicted to grow at around 3-4 per cent for the next two years and ANZ head of property research Paul Braddick believes that migration needs to be lifted if the economy grows beyond the 3 per cent level:

"Where net migration numbers are heading in the next year or so, that [growth] will probably reduce to something like 2.5 to 3 per cent".

With a growing economy the demand for labour is expected to increase significantly. With the flooding disaster still being dealt with and a mining boom currently underway, companies are beginning to compete with each other on salary to keep their workforce.

Braddick went on to say that the strain that this increased workload is putting on the economy could be detrimental to the country. Boosting the migration will allow migrants to fill up the extra job spaces and the economy would continue its growth comfortably.

While there is a shortage of housing in Australia’s biggest cities, Braddick doesn’t believe that an increase in migration will cause problems for the housing market: "In a sense it is a double-edged sword in that one of the restrictions that we see on new dwelling construction is a lack of available labour."

"While training programs are to be supported over the next couple of years, in the short term the only way we are going to really deal with the demands on the construction industry is to import that labour."

The unemployment rate in Australia has been falling since the country recovered from recession and it is expected to fall further when new data is made available. With the unemployment rate reaching the lowest point for years it seems that skilled migrants will be needed to fill labour shortages.